New England rebounds to defeat MidwestShelton, Connecticut improves
to 1-1 with 9-4 win against Rapid City, South Dakota

By Erin Kriner

After
a disappointing loss to Hawaii on the first night of competition, Shelton, Connecticut was able to play an
impressive game and go on to win 9-4 against Rapid City, South
Dakota.

After New England's series-opening
loss on Friday, New England
manager Ed Szymansky said, “We talked to the kids and told them
don’t look behind you, you have to look ahead of you. There is a lot
of pressure on the kids…we just have to tell them to relax and try
to get base hit, base hit, base hit.”

Base hits paid off as the team ended
up with six in all against South Dakota, including a Marcello Ursini
solo home run as part of a seven-run fourth inning.

In a game plagued by errors by the
Midwest, New England found a way to take advantage and lead an
offensive rush scoring seven runs in the fourth inning to make it
9-1.

The game started out with South
Dakota's Matt Minnick hitting a triple and then
scoring on a passed ball to give Midwest a 1-0 lead.

In the second, New England struck
back. After Eddie Kochiss and Jason Hafele both singled to get on
base they were able to advance and score two runs on a Matt Stoll
single and a Midwest error. This brought New England ahead 2-1.

The fourth inning is when New England
surged to take control of the game, scoring seven runs to make it a
9-1 game. Lead off hitter Eddie Kochiss
walked and the next batter Patrick Murphy hit a single. After
another walk the bases were loaded. With one out Midwest pitcher
Cale Fierro could not save another run when he walked batter Hudson
Boles. After making the score 3-1, another New England single and
Midwest error brought in two more runs. After a pop-fly, Matt Batten
was able to tag up and score another run.

Following an exciting fourth inning
both teams were able to step up defensive play allowing no hits and
six straight outs in the fifth inning.

In the top of the sixth the Midwest
was able to counter attack with a small comeback hitting two doubles
and a single to score three runs but it was not enough to match the
offense of the Shelton, Connecticut team. After a double by Alec
Winter and an RBI double by Matt Minnick the team narrowed their
deficit. Jesse Riddle singled to bring in two runs. Two quick outs
led New England to come away with the victory.